The big news in this WebLetter is the evolving "Gathering"
being organized by Dave Grason and friends. This will be taking place
next October and sounds like it will be a great get-together and a
chance to meet your fellow boatbuilders. See the Guntersville Report below.

Frame Kits: As most of you know, we have discontinued Frame Kits.
If you have been considering a Frame Kit, we urge you not to wait as our
inventory is rapidly being depleted. We only have one left of each of
the following: Kona Kai (same as Phantom), Hot Rod, Class J, Glen-L 13,
Monsoon, Ski Bass, Tuffy and Wanderlust. Because these could be sold at
any time, check the online store for availability. If the Frame Kit is
no longer listed, it has been sold out.

Did you like this WebLetter? The WebLetter is prepared between other
responsibilities and the finished product depends a lot on input from
Glen-L builders. If you have a story to tell, don't be bashful, our
readers are interested in your boatbuilding project. Don't worry
about grammar, spelling, etc. Three people proofread the WebLetter and
we often make corrections. Email your story, attach photos with
captions. Seeing other projects is a great help to builders. Thanks to
those of you who contributed to this WebLetter.

A reminder... Christmas is coming and friends and family would like to
get you something you REALLY want. You might want to print out some
pages from the Glen-L Online Store and leave them laying around,
with appropriate circles and arrows... just a thought.

Editor

Guntersville report

by Dave Grason

Well, if you've been following along on the
Boatbuilder's Forum, you've no doubt seen the threads concerning
our desire to have a gathering of boatbuilding hobbyists. I felt that it
was a shame that no one had done this before. I've participated in
other forums, such as the Tiny Tears forum, (www.mikenchell.com/forums/) and this has always been
one of the things that forum members just love to do. And after talking
to Gayle on the phone one day, she mentioned that the reason that no one
had ever had a Glen-L gathering was that no one had really taken the
reins, so to speak. She did say that there had been some small gatherings
in years past but they were very localized in the SoCal area. This was
among folks that simply knew each other in the days before the Internet.
So, with that in mind, I realized that I had enjoyed enough gatherings on
other forums where someone else had done all the leg work, so maybe it
was my turn to "give back." Besides, I was dying to put some
faces to the names, do some face to face "networking" and most
of all, get a first hand view of other boat projects. And I was sure that
other forum members would feel the same. The final motivation would be
that it would force me to move my Zip project up the priority scale as I
would now be making some commitments to completing it and if I didn't
keep those commitments, I'd lose face. We can't have that now,
can we? But I've certainly never done anything such as organizing a
gathering like this so I knew I'd be flying blind and learning as I
went. That's why I first put it up on the forum. I wanted to start getting a feel for what all would be involved. Besides,
being the forum's moderator, it seemed like if this was ever to be
done, it would fall to me at least in part anyway.

From the Boatbuilder Forum:

Reply to "Best Design for Tournament Ski or Wake Boat"

We have really enjoyed our Riviera for skiing and wakeboarding.
Lighlty loaded it has a flat wake much like a competition ski boat and
very comparable to a Mastercraft 19'.

Load it up with people, add fat sacks on each side of the engine and
you have a respectable wake (but no flips landed by us yet). A crew of
6-8 and 500 lbs of water starts to get you close to wakeboard weight
even considering that the basic boat is nearly 1000 lbs lighter than a
modern ski boat (part of the advantage for skiing).

In either case, having the fins on and mounting the pylon in front of
the engine helps tremendously. With a slalom skier attached at the
transom they will steer the boat. If they are attached to the low
point on the pylon there is no problem. Then having the high pull
point of the pylon is great for wakeboarding.

My wife won't let me build a boat — What?

by Gayle Brantuk

So, your wife doesn't want you to build a
boat? Of course she doesn't! Taking on yet "another
project" will require your time and attention in addition to money.
That translates to less time with the wife and family and less money to
spend on "more important things".

Okay, I just had to write this article and
address this statement as I have heard it over and over throughout the
years. A guy just came into the office and bought a catalog and mentioned
that his brother was going to build a boat, but his wife wouldn't let
him. The catalog purchaser was single, so this wasn't an issue for
him.

Now, before you start thinking that maybe you
should dump the wife and do whatever the &#@% you want, just stop and
think about it. We women are emotional creatures and darned if you guys
can't get that through your thick skull. You can't approach us
with the idea of another project-that's a complete turn off.

Here's a personal example; I'm not much
of a football fan, in fact, not at all. But, I really like Joe Montana
because one time I saw something on TV that was a personal profile about
him and he seemed like a sincerely good guy. So, I would actually watch
football games with my husband just so I could see Joe play. I enjoyed
watching the games because I had an emotional involvement with them that
I ordinarily would not have had. Do you get it?

If you have read our ads or any of my emails
(please don't say you haven't or I may cry), you should have read
this statement: "Building a boat is more than just a project,
it's a lifetime of memories the whole family can enjoy". Barry
thinks I overuse this phrase (by the way, my husband helped come up with
it…maybe there's hope for him yet), but hopefully it paints a
picture. The picture is a happy family with friends enjoying summers on
the water with their boat that they will treasure forever. And, their
kids will want to recreate those memories by building a boat of their own
with their children, etc, etc.

So, back to the subject at hand. How do you get
your wife to visualize the end product and become emotionally attached to
it and not just focus on the process? Here are some ideas:

When you come across heart warming stories online, print them out for
your wife to read BEFORE even talking to her about your desire to build
a boat. The article about building a boat under fire has always stuck in my
mind. If you visit the Boatbuilder Forum as I hope you do, you will come
across many more of these here as well.

If you have kids, plan on involving them in the project and explain to
your beloved about the learning experience they will receive. There are
mathematics involved, measuring, responsibility, team work, etc. that
are excellent opportunities for teaching.

Get her involved. If the boat has a cabin, it will need decorating-most
of us love this kind of stuff. Need help with a color scheme? Guess who
may have some ideas? Enlist her help with the building as well-lots of
wives have been instrumental in building boats. See the article on
"Compulsive
Behavior".

Don't build it in the living room! Yes, you heard me right-many have
actually built their boat in the house. Do I need to say more?

Make your dream her dream. Most of us really don't want to be dream
killers, love should prevent that. You have to approach the subject
gently and maybe over time to "romance" the idea.

Okay, now it's possible that many women
wouldn't even wince at the idea of you building a boat and if that is
the case with yours, great. I admit that I cannot recall ever quashing
one of my husband's ideas or desires to do something, although in
retrospect…oh well, that's another story. At any rate, some of
you will have a tough sell on this one and my guess is that you know who
you are. Listen, romance, paint a picture-we are all salesmen, so sell
the dream!

In closing-good luck (*wink)! Here are a few
more stories that may help in your sales pitch:

Ray Macke has some great stories about his
adventures, but keep in mind that he cruises alone-your significant
other may be offended and think that you just want to be alone, or it may
excite her to have you out of her hair-use discretion. Of course, you
could remind her that Ray's adventures will be "our"
adventures...

Photos are worth a thousand words-maybe you
could print out some of the great Customer Photos and stick 'em on the fridge.

$40.00 ($49.90 value) Great coffee table books with beautiful
photos of the famous Chris-Craft mahogany runabouts that most of us
drool over. Great gift for those looking to build the Glen-L Riviera,
Monaco, Gentry, Monte Carlo, Audeen, Mist Miss or any of the smaller
runabouts built with the classic mahogany finish. These books will
serve to provide ideas on finishes and hardware to make sure the
completed boat looks authentic.

Recent email:

In my browsing around today in The Boat Trader, I came apond this,
http://www.boattraderonline.com/addetail.html?85898208

It states, Ken Hankinson design. Not sure what difference between Ken and
Glen-L on this one? Looks to me like the James Cook?

I'm going to Lake Fairview Marina tomorrow and check this build out.
It's only about 30 min., from where I live. If it's worth the
time, I'll get my sisters digital cam and take some pictures of the
inside/ outside (close-ups). More than what they show in the ad and
post'em. I'll also see what info I can collect on its
buildbuilder.
Photos and copy from
BoatTraderOnline.com.

Subject: Salty, a Glen-L Jolly Roger
Date4: 31 October 2006

Last year, I purchased the study plans for the Jolly Roger. Subsequently,
I also purchased the plans & patterns, as well as some of your books.
As of yet, I have not started building due to other commitments, but will
soon. I have looked on your site and found Jolly Rogers that have been
built. One in particular always caught my eye. It was SALTY, built by a couple in California. This one gave
me the motivation to initially get the plans. Apparently, no one heard
about the boat after August of 1988.

This week I happened to pick up the latest issue (November/December,
2006) of Passagemaker magazine. I flipped through the pages as I normally
do at first, when a photo caught my eye. It sure looked familiar. Lo
& behold, it was SALTY! With an eight page spread, no less. It is now
the MV Rhonda. The boat was finally launched on Christmas Eve, 1988 by
Jim and Mary Thompson. I won’t go into more details, for the
article explains what has happened since then to date. The article is
entitled, "Second Time Around" and starts on page 138.

I just thought you might like to know what happened to one of the boats,
that has inspired someone else to build one.

Sincerely,
Mike Deren
Dresden, Maine

Sent: Thursday, October 12, 2006
Subject: Audeen short video clip

Don't know if you are interested in this, but here is a short
Audeen Video clip. Boat has been at the 90% completion stage for
the past five years. Not enough time to finish as I am to busy using it.

Best regards, Frank TamankoNote: This video clip was in wmv format. It worked
fine on my computer, but the browser opened it as a text file... don't
know why.

Dear Gayle:
The girls did a beautiful job! What a story, the $25.00 and trophy they
received was nothing compared to the million dollar smile on Dad's
face. He has much to be proud of in the children. I am a Sea Scout
Skipper, BSA, if you know what that means; then you will also understand
the following: On Saturday, 23 October 2006 I spoke with a Girl Scout
Executive, it seems that she was having problems keeping the girls much
past the third grade. I was also a school teacher, so I was also aware of
what third grade girls think of ....boy's. Well, you can see why I am
a Sea Scout Skipper, because the Sea Scouts is for boys and girls of that
age bracket, at least we can keep them for a few years longer. The
inspiring story was not only one of overcoming odds. The stick to it...
get the job done, perseverance, call it what you like! It came from some
place, and that was Grandpa who I must assume footed the bill, supplied
the tools and helped the children. Let's not forget the Grandpas who
fill a need, and inspire the children. What this whole story proves...you
don't have to be a man... you don't have to be experienced... you
have to have the desire and a very good teacher. Congratulation to the
young women, Grandpa, and the parents for giving us this story. Oh, and
Gayle thank you for passing the story along.

Hey, you've done wonders with it... I appreciate the "Great Little Boat"
report, since TNT is probably one of my "to dos" in the future.

Well done, mate!

Dan Crummett
Stillwater, OK

Subject: Sea test
Date: 25 October 2006

I have attached a photo of an almost completed Bull's-eye for your
website. The kids were pretty excited to try her out. This was my first
attempt at boat building. I started in early September and have it
floating 1 1/2 months later. Now for a little paint...
Brian

Subject: Cracker Box
Date: 21 October 2006

This is a 4MB clip that requires QuickTime to see.

Barry, here's a small video clip of my Cracker
Box in action. I hope you get it.